Argentina brings comedy-drama about fame and small town jealousy to Venice

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VENICE (Reuters) - Argentina is vying for the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice film festival with “El Ciudadano Ilustre”, a comedy-drama about fame, idols and small-town jealousy that premiered on Sunday.

The movie (The Distinguished Citizen) tells the story of Nobel prize-winning writer Daniel Mantovani who returns to his village of birth and meets old friends and foes.

Directing duo Mariano Cohn and Gaston Duprat said there were several themes they wanted to communicate, including what it means to be nationalistic, the role a person is thrust into once famous and the differences between village and city life.

Duprat said that while the movie is set in Argentina, the themes were universal.

“I’m sure that there are many other countries where the same may happen as in the film, where a person is considered an idol and then when that idol doesn’t live up to the expectations that his village had of him, they destroy him,” he told a news conference ahead of the movie’s official premiere.

“This is something that happens everywhere.”

The film, starring Oscar Martinez as the protagonist, is one of 20 movies films competing for the Golden Lion trophy that will be awarded on Sept. 10.